Artisanal mining drives Mali gold exports up to 67.4 T in 2013

BAMAKO May 27 (Reuters) - Gold exports from Africa's third
largest producer Mali rose to 67.4 tonnes in 2013 due to a big
jump in artisanal mining, customs and national institute of
statistics data showed on Tuesday.

An influx of workers and increased mechanisation pushed
artisanal exports to 20.7 tonnes, up from 1.6 tonnes the
previous year, helping to boost total gold exports from 45
tonnes in 2012.

The increase is significant for Mali, a West African country
whose economy has been damaged by the impact of a cycle of
rebellions in the north by ethnic Tuaregs.

A 2012 rebellion threw the country into chaos when Islamists
linked to al Qaeda hijacked the revolt and seized control of the
desert north. They were only defeated last year by an
international military operation led by French forces.

Mali is one of the world's poorest states, in part because
of its vulnerability to climate change. The United Nations has
asked for $2 billion this year to feed and care for impoverished
people in the parched Sahel region, that includes Mali, which
has been ravaged by drought for years..

"These (gold) statistics give us great comfort because they
prove that the artisanal gold sector is on the move and dynamic
and it can produce as much as the big gold companies which the
state has been forced to put under pressure," said Abdoulaye
Pona, president of Mali's Chamber of Mines.

"After the coup in 2012 followed by sanctions all sectors
have fallen into crisis except mining, so much so that rural and
urban people have veered towards artisanal mining," Pona told
Reuters.